What was the first sitcom?

[jamesanthony]

Treky, that lady's mother seemed to really be straight out of some Victorian novel or something. I think that repression to the extreme breeds all kinds of ill attitudes and behavior. Pregnancy is a part of life. I just can't imagine that such a large percentile of the US populace in 1950 were so buttoned up that they would get outraged over that sort of thing.

[treky]

well, my moms mother was somewhat "prudish" about certain things. For instance, when my mother was going through puberty, her mother made sure she taped her bra flat against her chest so her breasts wouldn't show!!

(really, I'm not making that up!!)

[jamesanthony]

Wow.

[sally mander]

Originally posted by treky
I think "Amos and Andy" was the first radio sitcom.

actually the first radio sitcom ( if you want to call it that ) was "The Happiness Boys" which aired on WEAF in NYC way back in 1922. The show was pretty much two guys ( like A&A) who did skits and sang. When WNBC signed off the air for good in 1988, they featured a clip of this as part of WNBC's final radio broadcast.

Mary Kay & Johnny may be the first network sitcom but I believe there were a number of "local" sitcoms even before that. One such program I recall reading about was "Wildroot Charlie" which aired on an experimental TV station out of New York State back in either 1943 or 1944. Didn't Ernie Kovacs do some kind of sitcom on Philadelphia TV back in the early 40's?

Highly doubt any film exists of Charlie but there are some still pics of it that exist as they have appeared in a few TV trivia books in the past.

[W.J. Griffin]

Originally posted by sally mander
actually the first radio sitcom ( if you want to call it that ) was "The Happiness Boys" which aired on WEAF in NYC way back in 1922. The show was pretty much two guys ( like A&A) who did skits and sang. When WNBC signed off the air for good in 1988, they featured a clip of this as part of WNBC's final radio broadcast.

Mary Kay & Johnny may be the first network sitcom but I believe there were a number of "local" sitcoms even before that. One such program I recall reading about was "Wildroot Charlie" which aired on an experimental TV station out of New York State back in either 1943 or 1944. Didn't Ernie Kovacs do some kind of sitcom on Philadelphia TV back in the early 40's?

Highly doubt any film exists of Charlie but there are some still pics of it that exist as they have appeared in a few TV trivia books in the past.

"The Happiness Boys" (also alternately known as "The Interwoven Pair") were more of a radio vaudeville act, what with songs, skits and snappy (for the '20s, anyway) patter, than an actual comedic narrative. As far as I know, there were no continuing themes or compelling storylines with these characters.

"Amos 'n' Andy", on the other hand, began life as a comedic serial, inspired in part by the real-life event of the Black Migration, in which millons of African-Americans moved from the racist deep south to the less racist but industrial north, and the popularity of the serialized comic strip, particularly Sidney Smith's "The Gumps" and Bud Fisher's "Mutt and Jeff". Combining these elements into a cohesive whole, small-time radio performers Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll devised a nightly serial about two naive southern Black Men named Sam and Henry, which premered on Chicago radio station WGN in January of 1926.

Within two years of its debut, "Sam 'n' Henry" became a minor sensation, and Gosden and Correll wanted to syndicate the show to other stations (just like the comic strips), but WGN said no, so the two actors quit and took their creation to rival station WMAQ, where the two leads were renamed Amos and Andy...and the rest is history. In its heyday, "Amos 'n' Andy" was THE most popular program on the air, and remained popular for at least two generations before the changing racial and political climate made their basically folksy escapades an embarrassment to its broadcasters...the radio version is rarely heard and the tv adaption is all but banned from the airwaves. (well, not really..."The Amos 'n' Andy Show" has been availiable on vhs and dvd for years...and the radio episodes are easily obtainable online.)

Both "Sam 'n' Henry" and "Amos 'n' Andy", politics aside, deserve to take their place as the true forunners of the popular situation comedy.

[Mr. Television]

Originally posted by W.J. Griffin
"The Happiness Boys" (also alternately known as "The Interwoven Pair") were more of a radio vaudeville act, what with songs, skits and snappy (for the '20s, anyway) patter, than an actual comedic narrative. As far as I know, there were no continuing themes or compelling storylines with these characters.

"Amos 'n' Andy", on the other hand, began life as a comedic serial, inspired in part by the real-life event of the Black Migration, in which millons of African-Americans moved from the racist deep south to the less racist but industrial north, and the popularity of the serialized comic strip, particularly Sidney Smith's "The Gumps" and Bud Fisher's "Mutt and Jeff". Combining these elements into a cohesive whole, small-time radio performers Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll devised a nightly serial about two naive southern Black Men named Sam and Henry, which premered on Chicago radio station WGN in January of 1926.

Within two years of its debut, "Sam 'n' Henry" became a minor sensation, and Gosden and Correll wanted to syndicate the show to other stations (just like the comic strips), but WGN said no, so the two actors quit and took their creation to rival station WMAQ, where the two leads were renamed Amos and Andy...and the rest is history. In its heyday, "Amos 'n' Andy" was THE most popular program on the air, and remained popular for at least two generations before the changing racial and political climate made their basically folksy escapades an embarrassment to its broadcasters...the radio version is rarely heard and the tv adaption is all but banned from the airwaves. (well, not really..."The Amos 'n' Andy Show" has been availiable on vhs and dvd for years...and the radio episodes are easily obtainable online.)

Both "Sam 'n' Henry" and "Amos 'n' Andy", politics aside, deserve to take their place as the true forunners of the popular situation comedy.

I believe The Goldbergs also started in 1929. I wonder which premiered first?

[W.J. Griffin]

"Sam 'n Henry" preimered on WGN January 12, 1926; "Amos 'n' Andy" first appeared on WMAQ in March of 1928; it switched to NBC in August of 1929.

I hope this answers your question.